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Month: March 2017

Ice hockey has increased in popularity in women’s sports with the number of participants enhancing by 400% in the last decade. It wasn’t until 1998 when women’s hockey was added as a medal event at the winter games in Japan with the US won gold that year. The minor difference in women’s hockey and men’s hockey is that there isn’t body checking in women’s hockey. After a 1990 hockey match body checking was removed all together in women’s hockey due to the fact that female players in some countries don’t have the body mass and size that many North American players.

With the increasing number of females who are about half the size of their male counterparts, it’s making them almost as equal as their male counterparts. In some games, body checking is a minor penalty, which is enforceable at the referee’s discretion. Full-face guards are mandatory in women hockey games. The first women’s hockey team was created in 1921, but since then women have only played in small leagues since there’s no professional league for women like they do for basketball. In time, there will be a chance for women to go professional in the US in hockey, yet that’s quite a long way away.

Women have made their presence known in the sporting world by taking on a sport that’s been mostly male since it started in the 18th century and has since had an audience that spreads to many parts of the globe. Women are climbing up the ranks fast in terms of their participation and the creation of teams. It’s just a matter of time and acceptance of women entering hockey. If women could enter the world of pro basketball and play domestically instead of going overseas, then it’s just a matter of introducing hockey into this country the same way.